Orca gang develops brutal hunting strategy to take on world's largest shark: 'It's fascinating behavior'

A pod of orcas off the coast of Mexico have learned to hunt whale sharks – the largest shark species in the world – and their tactics are brutal.

According to the researchers, a male individual was present at the majority of these hunting events, which suggests that he could be behind this predatory behavior.

“Animals have shown us time and time again that they are extremely adept at developing highly specialized strategies for targeting specific prey,” Volker Deeckeprofessor of wildlife conservation at the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom, told Live Science in an email. “It’s fascinating behavior.” Deecke specializes in marine mammal biology but was not involved in the new study.

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are the largest fish in the sea, weighing up to 40 tons (36 metric tons) and typically measuring up to 40 feet (12 meters) long, depending on the National Ocean Service. The largest of these ocean giants can reach lengths of more than 60 feet (18 m) – about as long as a bowling alley.

In comparison, orcas (Killer whale), also called killer whales, rarely exceeds 32 feet (10 m), depending on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries. However, researchers have discovered that these fearsome predators have developed strategies to take down marine mammoths. The results were published on November 29 in the journal Frontiers of Marine Science.

The researchers characterized this new hunting behavior by analyzing photos and video footage from the southern Gulf of California, taken between 2018 and 2024. They observed four such hunting events in total.

An orca hits the underside of a small whale shark, which was turned over to facilitate predation

Orca pods flip whale sharks over to immobilize them, giving them easier access to their pelvic areas and nutrient-rich livers. (Image credit: Kelsey Williamson)

The orcas began by striking the whale sharks at high speed, in order to stun and flip them. In this position, the sharks were unable to move or escape to deeper waters, study co-author Jesus Erick Higuera Rivasmarine biologist with the nonprofit research organization Conexiones Terramar, said in a statement. statement.

The orcas then attacked the whale sharks’ pelvic region, causing them to bleed and giving the orcas access to the sharks’ nutrient-rich livers.

Researchers haven’t actually seen the orcas eat their livers, but we know that this organ is a favorite delicacy among orca pods elsewhere.

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In three of the four recorded events, a large adult male orca named Moctezuma engaged in group hunting. The fourth event was orchestrated by females who had previously been seen with Moctezuma, suggesting that he may have taught these tactics to other members of the group. However, this theory still needs to be confirmed.

It’s also unclear whether this is a new behavior or has been going on for years undetected. “It is more likely that increased human activity (and the availability of affordable waterproof cameras) means that rare behavior that has been present for some time is more likely to be detected (and recorded)” , Deecke said.

“Studies around the world have shown that individual groups and populations of killer whales specialize on a few types of prey which they hunt using very specialized hunting techniques. So the fact that animals in the Gulf of California have evolved a strategy to attack and consume whale sharks is not that surprising, but fascinating nonetheless. »